Every once in a while there is a pop band which catches the moment perfectly.

Every once in a while there is a pop band which catches the moment perfectly. The Spice Girls did it in the mid-nineties with their sassy, kitsch, cartoon character girl power and were imitated by countless wannabes for years after.

As a result, by the end of the decade, the girl band seemed to have become a tired, washed up formula - until, that was, the Sugababes arrived on the scene.

They may have been in the middle of their GCSEs, but Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy arrived like a much needed spring clean to a stuffy winter house.

Their slick R`n'B vocals and clever production caught the rising trend of urban pop perfectly and provided much needed credibility to a tried and overly-tested formula.

Their mature style made a mockery of their youthful years and music critics, from both indie, pop and dance fraternities fell over themselves to praise the seductive threesome's debut album One Touch.

Cleverly, much like Newcastle United do with their young players, the Sugababes were kept away from prying and ego-fuelling media coverage, something which helped cultivate their street as well as chart credibility.

For those who like labels, their sound somehow appeared to combine Motown soul with British two step. It was, in short, the perfect pop album at a time when UK Garage and British Hip-Hop was finally to emerge from the shadow of its American cousin.

"We were really pleased with the album, but we didn't expect it to be so well received," explained Keisha.

"For me, Sugababes was just about doing something I'd always loved doing and singing and creating the sort of music I would listen to at home.

"Our three vocals worked well together, we had good people in the studio and I suppose it did catch a mood. British R`n'B was starting to establish itself and we arrived in the public eye around the same time as Craig David. It was about bringing a sound out of the underground clubs and working it into mature pop music.

"There are influences from garage, but I wouldn't say its a full-on garage thing. There's a lot of hip-hop, rocky, R`n'B tracks and a few dark indie tracks. It is much the same as our first album, we don't want to change anything, that's what made us, but at the same time we haven't really found the Sugababes sound so we can't really say we based it on one type of music."

And how do those so young cope with critical acclaim?

"Because we were so young we were left alone by the music press. We weren't part of a major publicity machine and people just heard the music and saw the videos.

"I think that helped us and gave us credibility. It also meant we never got carried away in ourselves, as we were away from the spotlight.

"I was doing my GCSEs and was dashing from the studio to see my tutor. It was a strange existence when you compare it to most 16-year-olds, but I didn't find it too strange as it was all I had known."

With a successful album behind them came the inevitable touring, something which ultimately proved to much for Siobhan, who announced last summer that she was quitting the band.

It could have spelt the end prematurely, but within a few weeks a series of auditions uncovered Heidi Range.

"We'd grown apart," explained Keisha on Siobhan's departure.

"We had been friends since we were kids and we'd always agreed that if one of us wanted to go our own way we wouldn't stand in their way. I hate to say it, but we haven't even spoken since she left the band.

"Siobhan had just had enough and we brought in Heidi. There is no animosity, it is just one of those things. I never thought it would mean the end of the Sugababes and we found a replacement straight away.

"It has worked out perfectly, she (Heidi) has the same roots in R`n'B and Hip-Hop as Mutya and myself and that has given us greater cohesion in our style."

The first song to emerge from the new line-up sees the girls hook up with 80s electronic pop icon Gary Numan via his Are Friends Electric. Combined with a bootleg version of Adina Howard 1979 vocal, Freak Like Me was born.

"We have greater creative direction now," said Keisha. "We heard the song and loved it. We did loads of versions, but we didn't want to destroy the feel of the original. We just think we've up-dated it slightly for a younger audience.

"We've grown up a lot. The whole thing of `aren't they sweet' just doesn't apply now, and we're going to show people that."